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Volvo Olympian
The Volvo Olympian was a rear-engine double decker bus built by Volvo at Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland. It was first built in 1992 and entered production in March 1993, replacing the Leyland Olympian. History The design was based on its predecessor, the Leyland Olympian, but the chassis was modified such that only the chassis design and layout remained, with even the grade of steel for the chassis members being changed, Volvo's standard electrical system was used, as well as standard Volvo steering/"Z cam" braking systems. The early Volvo Olympians were offered with Cummins L10 or Volvo TD102KF engine, coupled to Voith DIWA or ZF Ecomat gearbox.Volvo power for Olympian Commercial Motor 27 February 1992Volvo opens bus lines in Irvine Commercial Motor 1 April 1993 From late 1996, only the Volvo D10A-245 Euro II engine with electronic diesel control was offered. It was available with Alexander R-type, Northern Counties Palatine and East Lancs E Type/Pyoneer bodywork. The Volvo Olympian is likely to be built as either closed top or open top. The Volvo Olympian remained as popular as the Leyland Olympian in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Large number of Olympians were exported to Hong Kong and Singapore; most of them being air-conditioned. Orders United Kingdom and Singapore The buses were very popular in the United Kingdom and Singapore that most of them have 2 axles instead of 3 axles. London United, Metroline, Stagecoach London, London Central, London General, Capital Citybus, MTL London, Harris Bus and First CentreWest, together with Singapore ones had received 687 Volvo Olympians between 1994 and 1999. Because of a low-floor rule that had to be complied with by 2006, these buses had a short time use. Only two buses from London United survived for rail replacement services. Many other operators outside London do receive Volvo Olympians. Singapore In 1993, Singapore Bus Services had ordered 100 Volvo Olympian 2-Axle and 201 Volvo Olympian 3-Axle to replace the then retiring earlier batches of Leyland Atlanteans with Walter Alexander Royale bodywork. These Volvo Olympian 3-Axles were delivered between June 1994 and June 1995. The Volvo Olympian 2-Axle are the last ever non-air conditioned buses to be brought in by Singapore Bus Services and also the last non air-conditioned buses in Singapore. Due to the additional weightage of the air-compressor which necessitated a third axle, they were unable to be retrofitted with air-conditoning. In late 2003, most of these buses were redeployed to industrial routes to replace the then outgoing Leyland Olympian 2-Axles. Half of this batch had their lifespan extended by 2 years due to insufficient deliveries of new buses. All units were retired between June 2011 and November 2013, and the non-airconditioned bus fare structure was abolished shortly after. In April 2000, Singapore Bus Services had sent two Volvo Olympians, one to Nottingham and one to Metroline. Metroline replaced the tropical windows and the doors with British standard products and reregistered it from SBS7251Y, in a bid to convert to full air-con fleet. It was the first to be sent to Ensignbus in September 2005. The first batch of Volvo Olympian 3-Axle were largely similar in appearance to the Leyland Olympian 3-Axle, except for some minor technical differences. To maximise capacity, all buses except SBS9265U were retrofitted with a standee area by removing 4 pairs of seats in the early 2000s. In 2011, most of these buses were given a 2 year lifespan extension, with some units receiving an additional six months to 1 year extension owing to insufficient deliveries of replacements. All units of this batch were retired between April 2012 and June 2015. In 1996, SBS ordered a second batch of 200 Volvo Olympian 3-Axle to replace some of the then-retiring Mercedes-Benz O305 and Leyland Atlantean. These buses were delivered between August 1996 and February 1998. To maximise capacity, all buses had 4 pairs of seats removed to create a standee area in the early 2000s. In 2014, most of these buses in this batch were given a lifespan extension of 2 years due to insufficient deliveries of new buses. All units were retired between August 2013 and October 2016. These buses were also the last double deckers in Singapore and to use plastic destination signages. In 1998, SBS ordered the last batch of 70 Volvo Olympian 3-Axle with Walter Alexander Royale bodywork, which were delievered with the standee area pre-installed. Registered between March 1999 and December 2000, all units were retrofitted with LECIP Electronic Destination Signage (EDS) in the late 2000s. Despite being refurbished, none of these buses receive a lifespan extension of 2 years owing to a large influx of new Volvo B9TLs. Retirement began in March 2016 and all buses of this batch retired in December 2017. Ireland and Timothy North Dublin Bus had continued their orders with the RA batch being ordered first (RA176 - RA325), 150 buses in 1994. In January 1997, Dublin Bus ordered further 315 Volvo Olympians, which is RV. During the period, new liveries had been introduced, of which it is CitySwift and the changing of the livery from two-tone green/orange to white/blue/orange. All buses were withdrawn in 2011. Timothy North had continued their orders with the RA batch being ordered (RA43 - RA70). All buses were also withdrawn in 2008. End of production Production of Volvo Olympian ended in 2000 and concluded a run of over 10,000 Leyland/Volvo Olympian chassis. The last built were for Yorkshire Coastliner and had Alexander Royale bodies. The chassis had two low-floor successors: the 2-axle Volvo B7TL and the 3-axle Volvo Super Olympian. References External links * *Flickr gallery Category:Tri-axle buses Category:Double-decker buses Category:Open-top buses Category:Vehicles introduced in 1992 Olympian Category:Bus chassis Olympian Category:Cab over vehicles